The permafrost from Yukon in Canada, which contains DNA from past environments dating back to at least 30,000 years old, shows that woolly mammals roamed this region up until 5,000 years ago.

McMaster University scientists made the discovery, building on previous research which suggested that the large animals had died 9700 years ago during the mid-Holocene period – an era of climate instability.

The soil samples from Canada’s Yukon Klondike were collected in the first decade of 2010. They were then placed in a freeze and left behind.

Gizmodo was told by Tyler Murchie (an archaeologist who studies ancient DNA) that he noticed the samples.

Ancient 30,000-year-old DNA of past environments found in permafrost from Yukon, Canada reveals woolly mammoths roamed the region as recently as 5,000 years ago. The discovery was made by scientists at McMaster University, who built on its previous research that speculated the massive animals died out 9,700 years earlier during the mid-Holocene epoch

The ancient DNA from past environments, dating back to Yukon (Canada), shows woolly mammoths lived in the area as recent as 5,000 year ago. McMaster University scientists made the discovery, building on previous research which suggested that the huge animals had died 9700 years ago during the mid-Holocene period.

Murchie and his colleagues isolated the DNA and rebuilt it. It shows how the genetic material of animals and plants changed during Pleistocene to Holocene transition. The unstable climatic period was 11,000 to 14,000 years ago, when large species like mammoths and mastodons disappeared.

Analyses also revealed that Yukon horses and mammoths were disappearing before climate change.

However, the researchers note that they did not go extinct due to humans overhunting them as previously thought.

Both the woolly mammoths and the horse ancient survived up to 5,000 years ago. That brought them into the mid Holocene, which is roughly the 11,000 year interval that we now live in.

The soil samples were taken from the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon in the early 2010s, but have were placed in a freezer and forgotten

The soil samples from Canada’s Yukon Klondike were collected in the first decade of 2010. They were then placed in a freeze and left behind.

The changing climate in Yukon caused dramatic changes to the Yukon’s environment during the Holocene. 

It was previously flowing with lush grasslands, known as the ‘Mammoth Steppe’, but became overrun with shrubs and mosses  that were not seen as food for large grazing herds of mammoths, horses and bison. 

Experts say the grasslands can’t survive in this part of North America because they don’t have enough large grazing animals.

Hendrik Poinar is the lead author and director at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre. He said that this rich data gives a rare window into the megafuana population dynamics. It also nuances the debate around the topic of their extinction by more subtle reconstructions from past ecosystems. 

McMaster scientists were able to better date the extinction of the ancient animals with the help of new technology that was not available when they proposed the creatures were living in the Yukon 9,700 years ago. 

Murchie stated, “Now that these technologies are available, we can see how many life-history data is stored in permafrost.”

Murchie and his team isolated and rebuilt the DNA, showing the fluctuating animal and plant communities at different time points during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, which was an unstable climatic period 11,000 to14,000 years ago when a several large species such as mammoths, mastodons and saber-toothed cats disappeared

Murchie and his colleagues isolated the DNA and rebuilt it. This shows the fluctuations in animal and plant communities during the Pleistocene to Holocene transition. It was an unstable climate period between 11,000 and 14,000 years ago, when large species like mammoths and mastodons disappeared.

He said that the permafrost’s genetic data is “very large” and allows for an ecosystem- and evolutionary reconstruction scale unmatched by other methods.

Ross MacPhee, American Museum of Natural History co-author, stated that although mammoths have been extinct for all time, horses remain. 

The horse species Equus caballus is closely related to that of the Yukon’s horse 5,000 year ago. 

“Biologically this means that the horse is a North American native mammal and should therefore be treated accordingly.”

WOOLLY MAMMOTHS EXPLAINED : THESE GIANT MAMS ROAMED THE Earth DURING THE PLISTOCE 10,000 YEARS AGO

The 140,000-year-old woolly mammoth walked the frozen tundras of North America and Europe for over 140,000 years before disappearing 10,000 years ago at the Pleistocene.

Because their remains were often preserved and frozen, they are among the most well-studied prehistoric animal species.

Females measured slightly less than the males at 12 feet (3.5m).

Their curved tusks reached 16 feet (5m) and their underbelly contained a layer of shaggy hair that measured up to 3ft (1m) tall.

The loss of vital body heat was prevented by tiny ears and short tails.

To help with the harvesting of grass and other plants, their trunks were equipped with a pair of fingers at each end.

The Woolly Mammoth is are one of the best understood prehistoric animals known to science because their remains are often not fossilised but frozen and preserved (artist's impression)

The Woolly Mammoth is are one of the best understood prehistoric animals known to science because their remains are often not fossilised but frozen and preserved (artist’s impression)

They get their name from the Russian ‘mammut’, or earth mole, as it was believed the animals lived underground and died on contact with light – explaining why they were always found dead and half-buried.

Once, it was believed that these bones once belonged extinct species of giants.

Modern-day elephants and woolly mammoths share 99.4% of their genetics.

Six million years ago, the two species followed separate evolutionary pathways. This was about the time that humans and chimpanzees also went their respective ways.

Early humans co-existed alongside woolly mammoths, who used their bones to make weapons and artifacts.